Dong Ha, Vietnam Superthread

[Axver]

As far as I know, we just do the course we elect and are accepted in? I haven't heard anything about doing additional courses, surprisingly.

Stalin's Russia course? I would most definitely be the one yelling YOU SUCK, STALIN and REVISIONIST REVISIONIST REVISIONIST.

The amount of courses you are required to do to complete your major is (normally) less than the amount of courses you are required to do to complete your degree. Your standard three-year degree is a total of 24 courses. Now, I think when I did my double major in history and political science, I had to do 10 courses of history and 10 courses of political science - so I could've done four other courses in any discipline if I wanted. (As it happened, I did a total of 13 history and 11 political science.) You'll probably have some latitude to do a couple of personal interest courses outside your major too, even if non-Arts degrees can be more strict on course progression and major requirements.

 

[Alisaura]

I'll second the zoology nomination, if rocks aren't your thing. Although you'd probably have to do first year Bio first and that would be Ugh.

I did a straight Science degree and ended up also learning German for two years (including German Literature), and did a humanities-based Geography subject, along with all the usual science stuff, and I didn't go over my allotted number of subjects or anything. Of course, this was a million years ago, and these days there are all these compulsory Theory of Science subjects you have to do and whatnot.


ETA: There you go, what Ax said. There must still be a fair bit of flexibility with doing subjects outside your major... and I don't know about Architecture, but with Science and Arts, there are a million different ways to get the same degree (ie, lots of different majors and minors, and a variety of different subjects that can go towards any given major).

 

[Vlad n U 2]

The amount of courses you are required to do to complete your major is (normally) less than the amount of courses you are required to do to complete your degree. Your standard three-year degree is a total of 24 courses. Now, I think when I did my double major in history and political science, I had to do 10 courses of history and 10 courses of political science - so I could've done four other courses in any discipline if I wanted. (As it happened, I did a total of 13 history and 11 political science.) You'll probably have some latitude to do a couple of personal interest courses outside your major too, even if non-Arts degrees can be more strict on course progression and major requirements.

I see. Nobody in high school told us all about this.

 

[Alisaura]

Have you been to any Open Days, Vlad?

 

[Vlad n U 2]

University open days? Yeah, of course.

 

[Slopsy]

You pretty much only learn this stuff once you're there. You'll figure it out pretty fast and there will be people at the uni you can talk to if you're unsure about anything.

 

[Alisaura]

And they didn't mention stuff like that? Weird.

And having said that, I have no idea when I found out how it all worked. /old

 

[Axver]

Yeah, I don't remember that stuff at Open Days either. Most of the stuff I remember were individual courses spruiking their own majors.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

That's cool then. No panic.

 

[Alisaura]

No, the panic sets in when you try to narrow down which subjects you want to do, and work out all the pre-requisites.

 

[Alisaura]

Just because you folks were talking about Communism, and I randomly found this on You Tube...

Monty Python Communist Quiz sketch - YouTube

 

[Axver]

No, the panic sets in when you try to narrow down which subjects you want to do, and work out all the pre-requisites.

And REALLY sets in when you're near the end and hope that you and the uni are on the same page re: whether or not you've satisfied the degree requirements!

 

[Vlad n U 2]

 

[cobl04]

And REALLY sets in when you're near the end and hope that you and the uni are on the same page re: whether or not you've satisfied the degree requirements!

No, the panic sets in when you try to narrow down which subjects you want to do, and work out all the pre-requisites.

I can second this. I reckon I was about halfway through my second year before I finally figured out how the fuck it worked. They don't tell you unless you ask.

I am not doing any subject that I can't bullshit my way through. Hence anything with the suffix "ology" is out (unless it's sociology, of course).

 

[liamcool]

Does the uni you're going to attend have a breadth requirement, i.e. that you need to do at least a handful of courses outside of your main discipline of study? It seems that's the general trend at Aussie unis now, and even if it's not required, you are probably free to do a couple of courses outside of your major anyway. I know a lot of people who, say, were a history major but did a random French or literature or film or whatever course.

If you were at Melbourne you'd love our Russian Revolution and Stalin's Russia courses.

This is very true; I'm a Modern History / Philosophy major who's currently doing astrophysics for shits and giggles.

In my course, I have to do one People unit from outside my majors (i.e. a humanity unit which had some basis in science; i.e. I did Music Psychology) and one Planet unit (a science unit with some basis in humanities; i.e. the Astrophysics unit I'm doing has an assessment on the ethics of space travel etc)

 

[cobl04]

What ethics are there in space travel??

 

[liamcool]

Essentially whether it's proper to expect astronauts to go on a journey they almost definitely won't return from in efforts to advance scientific discovery, what territorial claims countries have for non-Earth bodies, etc.

 

[Alisaura]

Does that US flag on the moon count as a legal claim?

 

[Axver]

I am not doing any subject that I can't bullshit my way through.

Let me introduce you to a broad range of political science courses.

 

[cobl04]

someone hacked George Pell's wikipedia entry HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA George Pell - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Essentially whether it's proper to expect astronauts to go on a journey they almost definitely won't return from in efforts to advance scientific discovery, what territorial claims countries have for non-Earth bodies, etc.

sounds awesome

 

[Axver]

The vandalism's been reverted now, but for everybody's amusement: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=George_Pell&diff=522089141&oldid=521931781

 

[cobl04]

I read about the drones. Seems to be counterintuitive and counterproductive as well as the possibility they're killing hundreds of civilians.

But Axver is right, it's not as if they'd abate under Romney.

 

[The Sad Punk]

In before Vlad states that drone strikes have greatly increased since Obama came into power

 

[Vlad n U 2]

Do you seriously have a problem with me mentioning it or something?

 

[Vlad n U 2]

Obama terror drones: CIA tactics in Pakistan include targeting rescuers and funerals: The Bureau of Investigative Journalism

Strikes under Bush: 52
Strikes under Obama: 298

I'm hardly a fan of Bush, before any of you start.

 

[Axver]

Countries invaded under Bush: 2
Countries invaded under Obama: 0

Just some perspective, not an attempt to argue against the abhorrence that has happened on Obama's watch.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

They (Bush + Obama) just do things ... a little differently.

 

[Axver]

Obama at least knows how to use the "soft power" of diplomacy and public relations as well as the "hard power" of military strikes. That alone makes him superior to practically anything the Republicans have to offer, even if some of his "hard power" use is profoundly troubling.

 

[liamcool]

Does that US flag on the moon count as a legal claim?

That's an interesting question. The placing of the flag itself does not constitute a legal claim (due to the UN Treaty on Outer Space), and there was no international dispute as a result of it from the time of 9/11. If the US decided to break the treaty they could possibly use it as precedent, though?

 

[Vlad n U 2]

Going on the after school trip (otherwise known as schoolies but not the schoolies festival itself) and one of my friends is going to be playing Genesis all the way through and I can only think of Richard Hammond being driven to the edge by Jeremy's playing of Genesis in the Top Gear India special.